Like Father, Like Son
by Cirque du nuit
Summary: Bruce Wayne's crime fighting days are nothing but a memory. He lives an easy, if lonely, life as a late middle aged billionaire, and nothing more. But his beloved daughter is coming home to visit, and she's bringing a surprise-her new fiance. A young man who, through some trick of fate, perfectly resembles Batman's ultimate nemesis. Is it the joker incarnate?


It was a melancholy, grey day. A light rain had been coming down steadily since early that morning.

Bruce sighed as he checked the window.

Still no sign of Rebecca. She had promised she'd be here by seven. It was going on eight thirty now.

The light drum of rain against the windowpane was only getting louder. He worried about her driving in this weather; ridiculous, he knew. She was a grown woman and had been for quite some time.

Yet It seemed like only yesterday that she had been an insolent, spoiled teenager.

He half smiled at the memory of staying up until one in the morning waiting for her to get home, both furious and sick with worry.

And then she stepped through the door, the shouted goodbyes of her friends fading into the night with the roar of a car engine, her hair dripping wet and newly colored neon red, that infernal tongue ring glinting as she laughed.

And it had seemed only the week before that she had been the sweetest little girl you could hope to find, her two glossy ponytails bouncing as she tagged along with him wherever he went, making him laugh at some unbelievably corny and nonsensical joke that could only be thought up from the mind of a child.

It still caught him off his guard when he would speak to her and the maturity and clarity of her understanding would once again force him to see that she was an adult.

The roar of an engine and the sound of car tires splashing through the ever expanding puddle in the driveway woke him out of his thoughts.

He checked the window. Yes it was Rebecca's car all right.

That gleaming dark brown Porsche she had harangued him into buying for her as a moving away present, which had been seven years ago now, somehow. He had been sure that the money was wasted, that she would let the expensive vehicle fall into disrepair.

The car was still in perfect condition.

His heart seemed to skip a beat.

There was another passenger in the front seat, riding shotgun beside the unmistakable silhouette of his daughter.

A figure far too large to be anything but male.

An odd sinking sensation was growing in Bruce's chest. Rebecca had sounded excited on the phone. She had laughed and told him she was bringing a surprise.

He was beginning to get an idea of just what that surprise might be. Deep down he had known eventually this day would come.

He had dreaded it since the day she turned twelve. But Rebecca was a mature girl, and a studious one, despite her small rebellion as an early teen.

First her focus had been on high school, then on college, and law school after that.

There had been no boys. Rebecca had gone on dates, but they never went anywhere and she was always home early.

She had, in fact, shown a marked lack of interest in that side of life. She had her hobbies, she had her friends, she had her career to pursue. And she wasn't a romantic.

Bruce supposed after a while he had forgotten about this aspect of having a daughter.

With a growing feeling of foreboding Bruce descended the stairs. He went to the front door and stopped, watching out one of the glass panes on both side on the door.

Rebecca had gotten out of the car and had the trunk open, her hair being whipped in her face by the chill November wind.

Her passenger seemed to be refusing to exit the car, to Bruce's annoyance. He had to see, to visually confirm what he already knew.

Rebecca pulled a small suitcase out of the trunk and slammed it shut, shaking the whole car. She crossed around and rapped hard on the passenger side window, a grin on her face.

Slowly the door opened and a man slid out. Bruce's breath was caught in his throat.

The pair began walking toward the house, the man taking the suitcase from Rebecca.

He was tall, maybe as tall as Bruce himself. And he had a hulking build, broad shoulders, and terrible, slouching posture.

Bruce couldn't get a good look at him. The man had long, wavy hair which was blowing around his face.

Bruce stepped away from the glass and held the door open, forcing a smile on his face even though apprehension roiled in his gut.

Rebecca seemed to glide into the house. Instantly the atmosphere felt different.

"Daddy!" she threw her arms around his neck. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Dad, I have someone I want you to meet. This is Jack." she turned to the man who lingered in the dim entryway.

"Jack, this is my long suffering father, of whom I talked your ear off about." she laughed. There was a tender expression on her face when she looked at the stranger, an expression that Bruce had never seen on her face before.

The large man stepped into the light of the foyer. He raised a hand to shake, an awkward, twitchy half smile on his face.

Dull, murky green eyes met Bruce's own. Sharp cheekbones cast shadows over hollow cheeks. Stringy, sandy colored hair hung around a face that nearly stopped Bruce's heart beating.

Woodenly Bruce shook the man's hand, vaguely aware that Rebecca was still speaking, but her voice had faded off into a meaningless background sound.

Bruce's mouth seemed to be incapable of producing saliva. He rubbed his hand across his eyes, roughly enough to blur his vision.

"Dad? Are you all right?" Rebecca asked, wrinkling her brow in concern.

"fine, I'm fine." he assured her, giving her a small pat on the shoulder.

The man was looking awkwardly down at his shoes.

"I met jack on a case." Rebecca said, lacing her fingers through those of the man beside her.

Bruce wet his lips.

"on a case?" he repeated, his voice sounding strange and hoarse to himself.

"yes, it was a perfect success. Oh, I'll have to tell you all about it! The thrill I felt.. nothing really compares." she beamed, "Well, Let me just get cleaned up first. I've been sitting for way too long!" Bruce managed a smile. "Of course, go on ahead. You can tell me about it at dinner."

Rebecca started up the stairs.

She paused halfway up. "you two get acquainted while I'm up here. Oh and daddy, we'll be staying in the purple suite with the king size bed and bay window, all right? Don't you dare pretend we can't!" she laughed again.


End file.
